Kindergarten

Perspective from our Families

I most value how my daughter feels proud to help others and is now so enthusiastic about reading thanks to her experiences in A Mother’s Touch Kindergarten program. She also adores her kindergarten teacher, who takes the time to build nurturing relationships with all the children in her class.
- Al G.

Perspective from our Families

I most value how my daughter feels proud to help others and is now so enthusiastic about reading thanks to her experiences in A Mother’s Touch Kindergarten program. She also adores her kindergarten teacher, who takes the time to build nurturing relationships with all the children in her class.
- Al G.

We are very happy with the care and education our daughter, Victoria, is receiving. Mother's Touch is very structured and provides many activities for Victoria to learn and grow. She is very happy there. She is also thriving vis- a- vis her other peers in kindergarten at Windsor. We couldn't be happier with Mother's Touch.
- Joe and Beata S.

Educational Philosophy

Five and six year olds are poised for rapid cognitive and social-emotional growth.

Our Kindergarten program is designed to stretch children and present opportunities to develop more responsibility, initiative, and problem solving skills. Through play and social interaction, children learn and develop a positive self concept in school.

As a starting point, our curriculum closely follows the guidelines set by local school districts. We offer full and half day kindergarten programs. We provide transportation to and from local schools.

Daily Experiences

Physical Care

Routines empower children to independently engage in self care practices that promote healthy living. Children also learn to act with greater responsibility for others and their environment through classroom roles.

Motor Skills

Children build skills through centers. To prepare for the multifaceted work of writing, children engage in increasingly complex fine motor activities such as cutting fabric into shapes and using paint or brush strokes to form letters, symbols, or patterns. Throughout the day, revitalizing time is spent engaging in physical activity and breathing fresh air outdoors! Our children jump and dance in rhythm with music. Kindergarteners also spend time climbing and running outdoors.

Social-Emotional Skills

In Kindergarten, teachers use Second Step curriculum to explicitly teach executive function skills, which research has proven to be the foundation for self-regulation and social-emotional competence.

Foreign Language Immersion

Twice per week, children engage in full-immersion Spanish classes with Language Adventures teachers, all of whom are native speakers and have degrees in language, education, or both. Our teachers further support language acquisition using Spanish vocabulary through songs and stories.
Our program was designed to optimize learning and language retention.
For children, the benefits of learning another language are plentiful, including an advanced ability to focus attention, enhanced problem solving and creativity, and the ability to communicate with a greater number of people in our global society, leading to educational, professional, and social opportunities in the future.

Intellectual Development

Our Curriculum

Word Study: As part of our holistic approach to literacy instruction, children receive explicit phonics, sight word, and handwriting instruction. Kindergarten classrooms implement programs such as Jolly Phonics, a multi-sensory approach to letter-sound recognition and letter formation, and Handwriting Without Tears, a readiness program designed by an occupational therapist to help kindergarteners develop the physical skills and conceptual knowledge they need to print words, sentences, and paragraphs.

Reading Workshops: Units of Study for Reading was developed by Lucy Calkins and colleagues at Teacher’s College of Columbia University. Based on years of literacy research in thousands of classrooms across the nation, the program provides children with the conditions they need to become proficient readers: above all, this includes large stretches of time spent reading high interest books of their choice that they can access with accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. As a result, children emerge with strong identities and desire as readers. Though independent, partner, and class read aloud experiences, children internalize the idea that reading is a precious part of everything we do. Teachers provide explicit instruction in skills and strategies of proficient reading, largely through demonstration and by providing children with time to practice and talk about what they’ve read. As part of the daily workshop, reading conferences allow time for teachers and children to work 1-1 to determine strengths and next steps for improvement.

Writing Workshops: Units of Study for Writing was developed by Lucy Calkins and colleagues at Teacher’s College of Columbia University. Experiences within the Writer’s Workshop promote independence and self confidence by giving children choices and recognizing value in their voices. Children learn to live like writers, noticing, savoring, and describing the details of their unique experiences. They learn to adopt a growth mindset while approaching writing as a process with distinct phases, and they gain self awareness as they write extensively about themselves and their observations. Conferences allow time for teachers and children to work 1-1 to determine strengths and next steps for improvement. This program connects to the Reading Workshop through explicit and sequenced instruction.

Eureka Math: Common Core aligned, the program promotes the development of a strong understanding of mathematical practices like making sense of problems, persevering in problem solving, reasoning, and using tools strategically. Eureka received the highest rating of kindergarten math curriculum programs from edreports.org in regards to alignment and usability.